We’d managed to send the soldiers and the doctors back to the 21st century, which was exactly the way it was supposed to be, a one way trip. All except for Wallens. He’d placed a request with Captain Picard to remain in the future and on the Enterprise. So, he was under the tutelage of Beverly, who graciously took him under her wing. I’d been in Sickbay for a few minutes and was in a chair next to Laura’s heated basinet. She was fast asleep. Wallens came up next to me and smiled.
“Scary isn’t it?”
I placed a hand on Laura’s tiny head. She had a monitor on her forehead and her chest.
“Yes, but she’s already proven that she’s not giving up. She’s a daddy’s girl.”
Wallens pulled up a chair next to me and cast his gaze down at Laura’s breathing form.
“I heard about her harrowing birth. Deanna had a water-birth and she gave birth to Laura in a bathtub?”
I nodded my head but kept my eyes on Laura.
“How is my personal life becoming an open book lately?”
Wallens folded his hands on his lap and gave me an apologetic look.
“Sorry commander. I meant no disrespect. This Sickbay has been such a magnificent wonder. Medicine has advanced so much in the past three centuries. Is it true that you’ve done away with catheters and breathing tubes?”
I nodded my head and my breath suddenly caught in my throat as Laura struggled for breath. I reached out a hand and it almost encompassed the entire length of Laura’s body. I held back the tears and tried giving encouraging words.
“Come on baby. Breathe. Breathe for daddy Laura.”
Beverly came over towards the two of us, all business.
“What happened?”
I shook my head and stroked Laura’s head.
“She just went to take a breath, and she couldn’t seem to catch it. Should we up her oxygen to 15 percent?”
Beverly placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Yes, and Will, is that you talking or the doctor who no longer holds his license?”
I did my best not to purse my lips, but I was faltering the whole way. I saw the lights on the stimulator light up on Laura’s chest. The stimulator was so big, it nearly covered her entire chest.
“Both I suppose. But I can’t let happen to her like what happened to Megan, or Hope for that matter.”
Wallens looked at me quizzically and furrowed his brown bushy eyebrows.
“Wait, you were a doctor? And who were Megan and Hope?”
I grabbed another medical tricorder from the table next to the basinet when Beverly stopped me.
“No Will, unfortunately, I cannot let you help me with this. Your license is expired and it needs to be renewed through the Board of Medicine at Starfleet Medical.”
I suddenly grew angry, with myself and with the situation that was unfolding in front of me.
“Screw the Board of Medicine doctor! They don’t have a 31-weeker here on the verge of death!”
I didn’t like feeling helpless.
“Commander, look at me, Doctor Wallens will help me stabilize Laura. You just need to sit back and try to relax.”
I knew that she was right, but I guess I just needed someone else to blame, besides myself.
“You are letting a doctor from the 21st century help my little girl? No offense Wallens. His next suggestion would be to stick an iv needle in her arm with liquid Saline for hydration and intubate her until she could breathe on her own.”
A flash of light blinded me momentarily and when it disappeared, Q was standing right in front of the basinet. Defensively I got to my feet.
“Ew, I fixed Counselor Troi’s incubator so that she could give birth to that? She looks like an Arronian Chicken wing. Scrawny arms, beady eyes, with the mewling of a Klingon cat from their homeworld.”
My temper, now flaring, I stayed on my feet.
“Q get out! Laura is not an Arronian Chicken wing!”
Q smirked and then snorted.
“Very well, Riker, I certainly hope she turns into someone that resembles a human.”
I sneered at Q one more time.
“Q leave now! I’m not asking nicely anymore! Get out!”
Q pretended to sulk and disappeared in a flash. My attention was back on Laura, my hands on the edge of the heated basinet. Deanna came into the room, panic written on her face. Her thoughts seemed to slam into me as she approached the three of us.
‘Imzadi! What happened to Laura? What’s wrong with her?’
I pulled her into my arms momentarily, and then held her at arm’s length.
“She’s alright sweetheart. Beverly and Wallens are taking care of her. She’s just having a little trouble catching her breath, but we’re upping her oxygen intake to 15 percent.”
A monitor-screen began to beep, and Deanna’s eyes began to widen in horror. Her eyes began to roll to the back of her head, and her body falling like a sack of potatoes. I caught her before she hit the carpeted deck floor.
“I’ve got you Imzadi, I’ve got you.”
My aching back screamed at me as Deanna became dead-weight in my arms. Doctor Selar and a couple of nurses helped me move her towards the bed. I tried to send her some of my thoughts to rouse her from her from her unconscious state.
‘Come on Imzadi, please wake up. Open your eyes for me.’
Her eyes fluttered open and blinked several times to try and focus on me just as the monitor-screen stopped beeping rapidly and evened out. Momentarily, I tore my gaze from Deanna to Laura, whom, with the help of the stimulator on her chest was breathing normally. An audible sigh of relief washed over me as my gaze went back to Deanna. She had a frown on her face and tears were spilling from her eyes, down her cheeks.
“She’s gone isn’t she?”
I shook my head no. Doctor Selar and two of the nurses left us so that we could have a moment.
‘No sweetheart, she’s right here. See?’
I took her face in my hands and stroked the tears away with the pads of my thumbs. I carefully rolled the heated incubator over to the side of the bed so that Deanna could see Laura. A delicate smile spread across Deanna’s face.
“Hello little one. Mommy’s here for you. So is daddy.”
It was the first time Deanna had been in contact with Laura since her trying entrance into the world in our bathtub. I sat down next to her and placed a hand over her still-growing baby belly.
“Beverly told me about Gracie.”
The smile stayed plastered on Deanna’s face as she looked me in the eye.
“I knew that something was different as soon as Laura came out of me. I can’t explain it. Beverly found Gracie’s foot, and now we have a set of twins.”
Deanna tried getting up, but Beverly came over and pushed her gently back down.
“You need rest Deanna. Staying calm is what you need. I can’t stress enough that you need to take it easy. I know it’s only been a few days since Laura’s birth, but you need to start thinking about Gracie now.”
I could tell Deanna was tired of resting though. She shook her head and placed a hand on Laura’s head.
“I’m not leaving my daughter.”
I knew that when Deanna had the final say in things, she meant it. She wasn’t leaving Laura.
To Be Continued…
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